Cleopatra eBook

“Nay,” she gasped, “that I will
not; this shall not be endured to no end. I die
with them!”

Then it was that I saw the greatness of this woman’s
heart; for in the dark, and notwithstanding the terrors
we had passed and the awfulness of our state, she
clung to me and clambered on up that dread passage.
On we clambered, hand in hand, with bursting hearts,
till there, by the mercy or the anger of the Gods,
at length we saw the faint light of the moon, creeping
through the little opening in the pyramid. One
struggle more, now the hole was gained, and like a
breath from heaven, the sweet night air played upon
our brows. I climbed through, and, standing on
a pile of stones, lifted and dragged Cleopatra after
me. She fell to the ground and then sank down
upon it motionless.

I pressed upon the turning stone with trembling hands.
It swung to and caught, leaving no mark of the secret
place of entry. Then I leapt down and, having
pushed away the pile of stones, looked on Cleopatra.
She had swooned, and notwithstanding the dust and
grime upon her face, it was so pale that at first
I believed she must be dead. But placing my hand
upon her heart I felt it stir beneath; and, being
spent, I flung myself down beside her upon the sand,
to gather up my strength again.

CHAPTER XII

OF THE COMING BACK OF HARMACHIS; OF THE GREETING OF
CHARMION; AND OF THE ANSWER OF CLEOPATRA TO QUINTUS
DELLIUS, THE AMBASSADOR OF ANTONY THE TRIUMVIR

Presently I lifted myself, and, laying the head of
Egypt’s Queen upon my knee, strove to call her
back to life. How fair she seemed, even in her
disarray, her long hair streaming down her breast!
how deadly fair she seemed in the faint light—­this
woman the story of whose beauty and whose sin shall
outlive the solid mass of the mighty pyramid that
towered over us! The heaviness of her swoon had
smoothed away the falseness of her face, and nothing
was left but the divine stamp of Woman’s richest
loveliness, softened by shadows of the night and dignified
by the cast of deathlike sleep. I gazed upon her
and all my heart went out to her; it seemed that I
did but love her more because of the depth of the
treasons to which I had sunk to reach her, and because
of the terrors we had outfaced together. Weary
and spent with fears and the pangs of guilt, my heart
sought hers for rest, for now she alone was left to
me. She had sworn to wed me also, and with the
treasure we had won we would make Egypt strong and
free her from her foes, and all should yet be well.
Ah! could I have seen the picture that was to come,
how, and in what place and circumstance, once again
this very woman’s head should be laid upon my
knee, pale with that cast of death! Ah! could
I have seen!

I chafed her hand between my hands. I bent down
and kissed her on the lips, and at my kiss she woke.
She woke with a little sob of fear—­a shiver
ran along her delicate limbs, and she stared upon my
face with wide eyes.